Tuesday 8 September 2009 18.55 EDT
First published on Tuesday 8 September 2009 18.55 EDT

The results of Caster Semenya's gender verification tests are due to arrive at the International Association of Athletics Federations in the next few days, but whatever the result the world 800-metre champion is unlikely to be stripped of her gold medal.

Doubts about the South African's sex surfaced at the World Athletics Championships last month when it emerged that she had been required to undergo tests. The 18-year-old's vast improvement over the past year and aspersions from rivals about her muscular build led to questions being raised over whether she has a medical condition that blurs her sex and gives her an unfair advantage over women.

The definitive outcome will be determined by the sport's governing body within two weeks after a team of experts analyses the data. "We will get the results any day now of the Berlin investigation, then they need to be checked – it's not something where you have a yes or a no," the IAAF's spokesman, Nick Davies, said.

"The set of data will be checked by a group consisting of at least the IAAF medical and anti-doping commission and probably with experts from the outside.

"Only then, with conclusive evidence, would we be in a position to make an educated decision based on that evidence. It will then take [up to] two weeks to be in a position to speak to Semenya and decide where to go."

The South African underwent a physical medical evaluation as part of the process and reports were commissioned from a gynaecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.

The test results, however, will not determine whether Semenya retains her gold medal. "There is no automatic disqualification of results in a case like this," Davies said. "This is not a doping case at present so it shouldn't be considered as one where you have a retroactive stripping of results."